Each semester, kumu (faculty) from the (HSHK) at the University of Â鶹´«Ã½ at ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹ select exemplary haum¨¡na (students) to lead the procession and recession of the college¡¯s graduates at commencement.
On Saturday, May 14, undergraduates Kamalani Keao Oshiro and Kaneikoliakawahineikaʻiukapuomua Baker will serve as Â鶹´«Ã½nuiākea student marshals. Both were chosen for the coveted role after demonstrating exceptional academic excellence and emulating HSHK¡¯s mission to pursue, perpetuate, research, and revitalize areas and forms of Hawaiian knowledge.
More highlights from the commencement ceremonies and our amazing graduates
“As proud as we are of all our graduates, those of the past two years who have persevered and succeeded in these extremely trying times, are distinctive,” said Dean Jon Kamakawiwoʻole Osorio. “Huro (cheers) to our student marshals and all of their hoapapa (classmates).”
ʻIke (knowledge) fusion
Oshiro, who was born and raised in Los Angeles, always yearned to learn more about his ancestral roots as a Native Hawaiian. His moʻokūʻauhau (geneaology) traces back to the moku (district) of Waialua, Oʻahu. Oshiro¡¯s academic path at HSHK opened the door for the aspiring marine biologist to immerse himself in science through an ʻike Â鶹´«Ã½ (Hawaiian knowledge) lens.
“The way that UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹ has prepared me for my future is by giving me avenues and the opportunity to be a part of the first generation normalizing Hawaiian culture and values in the scientific research process being conducted in Â鶹´«Ã½,” Oshiro explained. “Having kumu who are academically trained scientists and grounded in their Hawaiian identity teaching at UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹ has given me people to look up to and aspire to be.”
Oshiro will earn a bachelor¡¯s degree in Hawaiian studies with a concentration in M¨¡lama ʻ?ina: Hawaiian Perspectives on Resource Management from . He recently earned a research assistant position at the Coral Resilience Lab at the .
Ola ka ʻ¨lelo (The language lives)
ʻ?lelo Â鶹´«Ã½ (Hawaiian language) surrounded Baker long before she left the womb, her parents are Hawaiian language and hana keaka (theatre) kumu at UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹. Raised in Kahaluʻu along the abundant Koʻolau mountain range, Baker attended Hawaiian immersion school from preschool through high school and continued studying the native tongue of her ancestors as an ʻ¨lelo Â鶹´«Ã½ major.
“I believe that my education at UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹ in the school of strengthened my ability to research in my language and to perpetuate the ʻike (knowledge) of our k¨±puna (ancestors) by giving the learning tools of language,” she explained. “Language is not only a tool of communication, it is the bridge from our world to the p¨ world where the many k¨±puna that came before us reside.”
Baker¡¯s passion for haʻi moʻolelo (storytelling) and hana keaka have blossomed within the UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹ Hawaiian theatre program, she recently earned national recognition from the for her starring role in UH Hawaiian language play, He Leo Aloha. After graduation, she plans to enter the MFA program in Hawaiian Theatre and eventually work in costume design.
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